Page:The Truth about China and Japan - Weale - 1919.djvu/126

 is adjourned or the House of Representatives dissolved before the period for the promulgation is ended.

Article 107. The method of organization of the Auditing Department and the qualifications of auditors shall be fixed by law. During his term of office the auditor shall not be dismissed or transferred to any other duty or his salary reduced except in accordance with the law. The manner of punishment of auditors shall be fixed by law.

Article 108. The Chief of the Auditing Department shall be elected by the Senate. The Chief of the Auditing Department may attend sittings of both Houses and report on the audit with explanatory statements.

Now even to those who are not over-familiar with constitutional enactments the aim and purpose of these Articles should be tolerably clear: they were drafted to secure the real independence and supremacy of the National Assembly and to serve as checks against abuses which experience had shown were the chief dangers.

Article 32 had a certain technical importance owing to the 1918 Presidential election, which has now taken place. Articles 35 and 75, placing the Senate in a very strong constitutional position vis-à-vis the Chief Executive, and restricting his power over the Lower House, were